Patan Durbar Square, Nepal

Lalitpur is one of the major cities, around 30 minutes drive from Kathmandu, across river Bagmati. One of the three kingdoms which got separated from Bhaktapur, Patan ( पाटन), apart from being rich in its cultural heritage, is also famous for excellent craftmanship in brass and copper work, especially of Buddha statues and Bhariav masks.   It is hard not to miss the exotic statues by the roadside and hear the hammering on metal for etching.

We planned to visit Patan durbar square then also go to the Macchendranath temple and Kumbeshwar temple since they are all around Lalitpur.

Patan durbar square

stone tablet outside the square

Patan is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Nepal. It is smaller in comparison to the durbar square of Bhaktapur, but some architecture is more beautiful.

view of durbar square from entrance

In the  picture above, you see the Krishna temple, taleju bell, then three tiered Swaminarayan temple, two tiered Vishwanath temple, and lastly Bhimsen temple. On looking closely, you can see King Yoganarendra Malla on a pillar.

Chyasim deval:

Krishna temple

This, the only octagonal Krishna temple, greets you on entering durbar square.

octagonal Krishna temple

Hanuman, Narsimha and Ganesha towards the right side of entrance

Narsimha slaying Hiranyakashyap    Hanuman                          Ganesha and Lakshmi

Entering Mul Chowk

Taleju temple:
Taleju temple also known as Degutaleju or Degutalle can be seen in all three durbar squares at Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu. After the division of kingdoms, all kings were in competition to construct the best architectural buildings.

Taleju temple

Taleju bell

King Yoganarendra Malla facing Taleju temple

Behind the pillar is Narsimha temple. Narsimha is an incarnation of Vishnu with a torso of man, face and claws of a lion. He took this form to protect his devotee Prahalaad from his father, Harinyakashyap who was too egoistic and refused the existence of Vishnu.

golden gate

The golden gate at Bhaktapur, see post Bhaktapur, is considered more ornate and beautiful than this one.

close up

Taleju Bhawani is an eight-armed devi or Goddess Durga, and like in Bharatpur has been the clan goddess of Lalitpur kings too.

Swaminarayan / Hari Shankar / Shankarnarayan temple:

Shankar Narayan temple

It has kneeling elephants at its entrance.

Carving on temple

The struts have intricate wooden carvings. Notice the Vishnu torana in the picture below.

wood carving torana

Char-Narayan temple (चार नारायण ):
Built around 1565 by King Purandhar Singh, Char-Narayan temple is famous for its exquisite wood carvings. Char means four and Narayan is Vishnu. The temple has four Narayans.

a close view of the temple

beautiful carved wooden struts adorn the temple

wooden carving toran on top of temple entrance

stone sculptors outside the temple

Krishna or Jagat Narayan temple:
This stone shikhara style temple is dedicated to Krishna and is the finest piece in stone architecture. It was built by Siddhi Narsimha Malla, an ardent devotee of Krishna. It is said that he had a dream asking him to built this temple. This temple is an exception to the Malla architecture.

Krishna temple

The temple has idols of Krishna along with Rukmani and Satyabhama, wives of Lord Krishna. The three tiered temple has intricate carvings all over the temple, from Ramayana and Mahabharata.

carved walls

Krishna temple with Garuda in front

Large metal Garuda, sits atop a tall monolith stone pillar facing the temple with folded hands.

Garuda

It is said to be the most photographed Garuda. Notice the crystal on his forehead.

Vishwanath temple:
This two tiered temple has Nandi sitting outside. Nandi is Lord Shiva's mount and also his greatest devotee. A Shiva temple always has the presence of Nandi.

Vishwanath temple with elephant and riders

Nandi sits outside the temple

Manga hiti:

Hiti is a Newari term for tap. I mentioned about dhungey dhara in my earlier post on Bhaktapur saying that these sources of water are found all over Nepal. Water continuously runs through these carved spouts. This is a Newari architecture and is a diversion from the Malla ones.

Manga hiti

The water from the right side of Manga hiti is used in daily worship at Krishna temple.

Bhimsena Dolakha temple:
Bhimsen or Bhima is one of the Pandavas from Mahabharata. He is known for his strength and bravery and is very revered in Nepal.  There is always a Dattatreya temple adjacent to Bhimsena temple.

Bhimsen temple

This temple was built by King Shree Niwas Malla in the 18th century. The brass lion on a pillar in front identifies the extraordinary strength of Bhima. Then, you see the pataka, a metal strip by which the gods ascend to heaven.

A Bhima idol is always arched by a snake, identifying his close relation to Naga.

carved stuts

Lion pillar

The brass lion atop a stone pillar reminds people of Bhima's extraordinary strength.

This does not finish the huge number of places to see at Patan, there is so much more, so a trip should be planned to enable you to spend a lot of time there.

We proceed to see places around Patan. Kwa Bahal or the golden temple, Macchendranath temple, Kumbheshwar are few we had in mind at that time but did not realise there would be so many more temples.

I plan to write about the temples around Patan in my next post.

Eggless garlic Naan

What could be more satisfying than freshly made garlic naan that melts in your mouth. Naans are usually made a special oven called tandoor which is a dome shaped clay oven.  The temperature reaches very high and the purpose is to cook the breads or meat very fast thus preserving the softness inside.  Once the naan is rolled, one side is made wet and then quickly patted on the inner wall of tandoor.  The heat quickly cooks the naan which is taken out with the help of skewers.  Dollop of flavored butter makes for a heavenly naan.

In the absence of tandoor, kitchen ovens are used.  My mother used to make them on a skillet or tawa and that is what I plan to make today.

Ingredients:
3 cups maida / all purpose flour
1/2 tsp instant rapid rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup warm milk
approx. 1 cup warm water
4 tbsp butter/ ghee/ oil
1 tsp salt

optional:
poppy seeds
sesame seeds
nigella seeds

To be applied to naan after cooking:
2 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Method:
Mix butter, garlic, coriander leaves in a bowl and keep it aside.
Sift flour, add instant rise yeast, sugar, salt and mix.

Add yogurt and warm milk to the flour and knead thoroughly.  Now, get ready for some arm exercise.  Knead the dough till soft.

Add butter and start kneading again.......

till it becomes a soft and leaves the side of bowl.

Cover with a cling film and let it rest.  The resting time will depend solely on the room temperature.  If it is cold, keep the dough in an oven.

The dough should double in volume.

Knead it again and divide it equally in small roundels.
Flatten and if desired, sprinkle few nigella seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds.  Roll and make tear shaped naans.

Heat an iron tawa or pan.  Do not use a non-stick one.  Naans slip away from a non-stick one. When the skillet or tawa is hot, apply a little water on underside of each naan and stick the wet side of the naan on the tawa.

Cover and let it cook a little.  Covering the naan also makes it more spongy.

Remove the cover, and turn the skillet up-side down along with the naan still stuck.  You need to keep it at a little distance so that the flame browns the naan evenly and does not burn it.

Check for even brown specks.

Remove the naan and spread a lavish dollop of the flavored garlic butter.

I tried another version of making naans in an oven which was more faster but the end result was not that soft as the skillet ones.

My Notes:

Do not let the dough rest too much, it will become sour.